I was less thrilled with this book than the previous two. Particularly, the behind-the-scenes story of Mrs. Coulter’s shifting allegiances seemed like it wasn’t given enough attention - that was a fairly important transition. And I was likewise rather unhappy with the whole world-of-the-dead storyline, and basically unconvinced with the reason for going there. On the other hand I very much enjoyed the mulefa storyline, loopy though it was. And at the end of the day, I wanted to know how the story ended, which I think is the greatest common divisor for good story-telling.